Palestinian cabinet rejects final status talks now

The Palestinian cabinet has rejected an Israeli proposal to postpone carrying out interim stages in the peace process and move directly to final status talks.

A statement from the Palestinian leadership, which met overnight, said the implementation of interim accords was the condition for entering final status negotiations.

It said Israel must carry out three further withdrawals from Palestinian territory before these talks could begin.

The Palestinians called on the United States to put pressure on Israel to implement interim accords during the visit next week to the region of its envoy, Denis Ross.

The Israeli government has approved only the principle of additional withdrawal, but has postponed a decision on the scope and timing.

From the newsroom of the BBC World Service